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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25855939">Call Her Letty</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amelia_m93/pseuds/Amelia_m93'>Amelia_m93</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Jimton, Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Artists, Did We Just Become Best Friends?, Manananggal, Monsters, One Shot, Rokurokubi - Freeform, Slice of Life, immigrant, nope - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:33:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,889</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25855939</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amelia_m93/pseuds/Amelia_m93</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Take friends when you have the opportunity.<br/>Set 5 years before Jimton Part 1</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>JimtonAbove</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Call Her Letty</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Every monster journeyed to the Over for reasons that were both their own and incredibly common among the species. Some were there to escape the growing population of the Under. Some went to see the sights, to feel the True Sun on their skin, to experience humanity outside of tales told by their elders. More still wanted the opportunity to "make something" of themselves in the human world, whatever that meant to that particular monster.</p><p>For Diya Rfran, it was all three. The manananggal lands were a desolate, tiny place, nestled between the dullahan and oni countries, where travel between homes and settlements could take half a day without the use of wings. For the most part, all there was to do was til the land with one's claws, grow Heartfruit, and possibly meet a future wife or house husband at a monthly gathering festival. No activity seemed particularly attractive to the young monster.</p><p>The moment that The Over and The Under announced plans for Reunification, life changed for monsters in a way even the young manananggal could notice. Mya, Diya's mother, returned from a meeting of species with a collection of human artifacts to share with the family, two of which stood out strongly to Diya. One was a "fashion magazine," a collection of pictures with clothing of varied colors and layers, worn by both men and women. Diya was so fascinated by each outfit's uniqueness, especially considering the drabness of the clothes she was allowed to wear. She nearly tore the pages with her claws, learning quickly that items from the human lands needed more care than those in The Under. As a response, the magazine was handled exclusively with her knuckles, as was the other gift The Over provided Diya.</p><p>A watercolor painting set was the other item given to Diya by her mother, and it was this that would light a fire in the young monster. From dusk till dawn, she would use the set, taking in the sights of the world around her and attempt to replicate it on makeshift canvasses, all while dreams of seeing the world that provided her this outlet for stress, for boredom, bounced about in her head.</p><p>Diya, in her teenage years, sent what was probably an unreasonable amount of letter to the Bureau of Monster Affairs, each pleading to be listed for a transfer to The Over. Every letter returned with the same vague message explained the long queue lines, the need to set up accommodations on The Over for a "monster of her type," how they would get back in touch with her at the "soonest possible opportunity." One letter, the final message that was sent, sealed in a red envelope and sealed with wax, elucidated the situation entirely.</p><p>A manananggal was often born at around 3 feet tall and would grow to 6 in their teenage years. Diya was already 6'7" and could expect to be somewhere between 9 to 11 as she reached adulthood, especially considering Brlo, Diya's father, was 11'2". To the young monster's dismay, the Bureau could not and would not approve a transfer to The Over until she reached adulthood, as they could not reasonably provide for a monster that couldn't fit in most human dwellings. Defeated, Diya continued to paint when she wasn't farming or being set up with another manananggal for spousal review.</p><p>Diya needn't have worried. Despite the physical traits that, according to her people's standards, made her less than beautiful, her teeth too straight and her body too skinny, she somehow never grew past her 6'7". One last letter was sent and, after she kissed the letter, Diya prayed to the goddess Quynrm that someone at Monster Affairs would be merciful and kind and allow her to see the world above.</p><p>It wasn't until the letter was in Diya's hands that she believed she was going Up. She would be the first manananggal to travel the Over. She would be the only manananggal that would be Above, the only one blessed with her shortness, a fact that sent Brlo into a fit. Mya quickly calmed her husband down and made Diya promise that she would not return home with a family pack of humans if anything just to save her father's heart. Diya made that promise.</p><p>It was with a knapsack full of cheap art supplies and a sleep-deprived mind that Diya met the True Sun. The sun in The Under was a source of light that hung in the air and disappeared after what was measured to be a day, same as in The Over; however, the True Sun bathed Diya in a warmth she had never experienced before. She looked to the sun as long as her eyes would allow, enraptured by its luminance and the warmth it provided her. When a cloud covered the sun, Diya's eyes widened as she saw the rays of the sun's light shoot out past it in a display that she felt was only for her.</p><p>When the wagon came to its stop in the town of Jimton, Texas, Diya stepped from it, her limbs tight and pained from sitting in a vehicle not built for someone her size. The Bureau had said they wouldn't need to make special accommodations for the young manananggal, but, looking at all the monsters surrounding her in the town's square moving to and fro, that seemed untrue.</p><p>Monsters of various sizes and shapes, wearing clothing that seemed similar to those worn in the magazine in Diya's bag, stared openly at the giant monster, who had never felt so tall before. She took a few cursory steps towards the building in the center of the town square, all while noting the many stares she was receiving, directed either at her face or her hands. A manananggal's claws were indeed sharp, Diya thought to herself as she pulled her hands closer, but she had never used them for anything but tilling the ground and harvesting crops. She wondered briefly if she would always be stared at like this, but Diya quickly discarded the worry. No one could change what she looked like, and she wouldn't want to be changed given the opportunity. Still, she would have to learn to navigate in a world not built for her kind.</p><p>The visit to the Mayor's office was more of a formality than anything; she had signed the requisite paperwork over the mail and knew her address and apartment number. However, the Mayor was insistent on telling the manananggal they were glad to have a "unique" monster living there. Diya always considered herself unique, even among her family, and was happy to be recognized as such.</p><p>The final trek of her journey, the last leg, so to speak, brought her before the Pecan Bay Apartments, an unusual name due to the complete lack of standing water, according to Diya's brief observation of the town.</p><p>Finding a side door unlocked, Diya made her way into a stairwell that seemed like it would lead its way up the building, so Diya took it, awaiting the third story and room 302.</p><p>A monster was standing at the second story, an incredibly tiny figure, even compared to the rest of the town. They were wearing a cute white and red striped sweater matched with a black skirt and a black beret; an outfit Diya could have sworn she had seen someone wearing in her fashion magazine. As Diya's foot met the last step, the monster turned their head from the window they had been facing, their lips curling upward and outward until she revealed a set of short sharp teeth. The other monster's eyes were similar to Diya's, though where Diya's eyes were colored yellow, the other's were red. Her hair, black, was cut short into a short bob, similarly to Diya's sister Krln, and her skin was pale, with what looked like black eyeliner on her eyes and pink blush on her cheeks.</p><p>"Well!" The other monster's neck extended upwards until it was eye level with Diya, who looked back stone-faced, or at least as stone-faced as she could be as a manananggal. "Look at you! I've never seen someone like you in town before!" The monster's neck retracted, and she stepped toward's Diya, one of her hands out to the manananggal. "How do you do? I'm Leticia!"</p><p>"Hello, Leticia," Diya reached her hand forward and gently took Leticia's hand between two fingers to shake it. "My name is Diya,"</p><p>"Diya~," Leticia said Diya's name with some gravitas, working it over for a moment before nodding her head. "I like it!"</p><p>"I…I'm appreciative of that," Diya nodded back, not sure how to respond to the little monster.</p><p>Leticia placed a hand, whose fingers ended in claws, over her mouth and giggled. "Gosh, you know, I really hate to ask, but I absolutely have to know. What sort of monster are you?"</p><p>"Manananggal," Diya said simply, feeling uneasy. Surely others had known of manananggals. They had single-handedly stopped war after war break out between the Dullahan's and the Oni. Fortunately, realization dawned on Leticia's face, and she smiled wider before she reached out and took Diya by the hand. For a moment, Diya thanked Quynrm that her face was frozen into a small smile as she watched the tiny monster.</p><p>"Oh, duh! A manananggal!" Leticia chirped. "We're basically cousins! I'm a Rokurokubi! See, the neck?" As if Diya could have missed it the first time, Leticia stretched her neck again and wavered it about to explain her point further. "We stretch, you split apart? Basically the same thing, right?"</p><p>"I…" Diya thought for a moment how to handle this so-called Rokurokubi that was holding her hand. "I cannot say I see the similarities between our species, but I appreciate the connection, all the same. May I ask, does this stairwell have access to the third floor?"</p><p>"Oh, duh, silly!" Leticia giggled again and released Diya's hand. "Same as the second floor, go up the rest of the way, and you're there!"</p><p>"Thank you, Leticia," Diya stepped to the rest of the stairs, but Leticia's head stopped her.</p><p>"Are you leaving so soon? I can brew us up some tea if you'd like."</p><p>"I…Tea would be lovely, but I would like to see my apartment before making any decisions on how to spend my free time,"</p><p>"That's understandable," Leticia nodded. "Well, promise me you'll stop by, say, Wednesday and we can have it then?"</p><p>Fortunately, Diya had been given a crash course in the way dates were handled in The Over, so the meaning of the day Wednesday was not lost to her, especially considering it was Monday. Diya nodded tersely and smiled back to Leticia, who seemed satisfied by her silent response and retracted her head once more. Diya continued up the stairs but was stopped again by Leticia's voice.</p><p>"Oh, and Diya?" Diya heard and turned to look down at the small monster. When Leticia had Diya's eyes locked onto hers, she winked and smiled slyly at the manananggal. "Call me Letty,"</p><p>As Diya continued up the stairs to her new home, she swore two things to herself. She would meet this Leticia character once and never meet with her again, and she would never, ever call the Rokurokubi "Letty,"</p>
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